BEA'S BOOK NOOK
"I can't imagine a man really enjoying a book and reading it only once." C. S. Lewis
“If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.” ― Oscar Wilde

FBI Profiler Pierce Quincy and Officer Rainie Conner return in a baffling cold case in this exclusive eBook short story by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner.

A
young woman is found strangled in the stairwell of a college library,
only her sneakers missing. With no physical evidence, no signs of sexual
assault, and no witnesses, all the police have to go on are the three
men who were in the library with her: her boyfriend and two campus
security guards . . . all of whom have secrets, none of whom can be
proven guilty.

Five years later, ex-FBI profiler Pierce Quincy
and his wife, former police officer Rainie Conner, agree to consult on
the still-unsolved case, delving into deep background to comb for any
clue that will lead to the woman's murderer. But with no leads and the
case colder than the body, will they be able to build a case against one
of the three suspects, or is there a fourth man out there? And if the
killer has eluded the police this long, how far will he go to ensure
justice is never served?

With Gardner's singular ability to delve into the minds of criminals and law enforcement alike, The 4th Man is a shocking look at the reasons for taking a life . . . and just how far profilers need to go to learn them.

It also includes an early look at Gardner's next chilling thriller, Right Behind You, coming February 7, 2017.

My Thoughts:

This was my first story in the Quincy & Rainie series. "The 4th Man" is a crossover with Gardner's D.D. Warren series, of which I've read a few. Warren, Quincy, and Rainie have teamed up to work a cold case. After going through the original case files and looking at all the suspects, the team has narrowed down the suspect list to a handful. We sit in on the interviews, but lack the information that the police and FBI have. D.D. Warren has identified one or more lies that each suspect told. Using those lies in conjunction with the questioning, they zero in on the guilty party. While the identity wasn't a surprise, the motive was. The reveal left me going 'huh?' And then I read her note at the end
where she states that it was inspired by a real case. And I went 'huh'
again. Truth really is stranger than fiction.

The story is tightly written; at under 50 pages there's no room for detours or extraneous details. Despite that, the story didn't grab me right away; but I was pulled in as I read. I was left wanting to know more about Quincy and Rainie. They worked well together and seem like interesting people. That was helped by the excerpt at the back from their next book. "The 4th Man" has strong plotting and writing and interesting characters.

Health Note

I've got a shoulder injury, the exact nature of which my doctor is still determining. But it's affecting my ability to type. So posts will be delayed, and comments on other blogs, as well as my own, are on hiatus until typing is less painful or not painful at all.

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